Remember Me
by Bastet Kitten
Summary: We know that Severus Snape was a Death Eater, and we know that he started working for Dumbledore, but what we dont know is, why? one-shot fic


Remember me. By Bastet Kitten Harry Potter © Joanne Rowling, AOLTimeWarner  
  
  
  
Campbell drive was an ordinary street, in the ordinary city of Salisbury. It had clean lawns and trimmed hedges. It tenants were normal adults, with normal children, who went to normal schools. But one of its occupants was not so normal, and that night she had a visitor, one she had not anticipated. This man had pale sallow skin. His eyes were as black as his soul, his hair the same devilish color. He was Satan's servant, a minion of sin. He had evil by his side and the marks to show it. This man's name was Severus Snape. Snape's black cloak billowed in a slight breeze as he kept his eyes fixed on his prize. His master, Lord Voldemort, had sent him here to destroy an auror, one of the best. He had tortured her location out of her Secret-Keeper; a woman named Allison, and had killed her when he had finished. Dead women tell no tales. His lips curled into a grin. He enjoyed killing. He was as low as a predator on the chain of life, enjoying the kill, but finding the hunt of his prey so much more satisfying.  
  
His watch said midnight, the bewitching hour, and he stalked toward the house, he was a silent as a lethifold and just as deadly. He reached the door and pulled out his wand. "Alohamora." He whispered and the lock clicked open, granting him entrance to the dark house beyond. "Lumos" he whispered again, and a small light appeared at the end of his wand. He walked up the stairs, making no noises so as not to disturb his target. He opened a door and entered a bedroom. There was a large brass bed in one corner, and in it was the one he searched for. He saw her head and chest move rhythmically up and down in time with her breathing. He smiled again. She suspected nothing. He pointed his wand at the sleeping figure when, before he could utter a word, she leapt up and screamed, "EXPELLIARMUS!" Snape's wand flew out of his hand and he found a wand at his throat. He was staring straight into the face of Jessica Mirada, the woman he had planned to kill. "Don't move Snape, or you'll yourself dead, or worse." He knew what she meant, she had power and she could use it any way she wanted. Snape's face drained. So this was what it was like. He was going to die. This woman was ruthless and she would kill him. He had heard tales about her. She was infamous for having no pity with servants of the Dark Lord. Snape was scared. This was it. The end. Finito. How many times had he done this? Too many to count. All of them, muggle or not, had had to face this. It was hard to believe that he had made them feel so much terror. Jessica was scowling. Her face showed nothing of the intense battle that was raging over her senses. Her job and her hatred told her to kill this man, but her beliefs, and a small persistent voice in the back of her head told her not to. She hated Death Eaters and everything to do with them. She was muggle born and her parents had been killed because they had no powers. It wasn't fair. She hated the fact that they were though 'inferior' or 'stupid' in comparison with witches and wizards. And once again she saw her parents, mouths and eyes open in horror, the life gone from their bodies. The hateful part of her took over for a moment as she whispered, "Crucio." Snape's body was suddenly taken over by convulsions. He felt pain beyond anything. It was worse that when he had though he was going to die. He would rather die than go through this any longer. He was screaming and twitching. Then it stopped and his head cleared. It was still painful, but as he lay on the floor twitching all of his terror returned.  
  
Jessica was horrified at what she had done. She had only performed the Cruciatius curse once, and the Death Eater was trying to rape her. Sure she had killed, but in self-defense. Never had she done something to a creature under captivity. The good part of her took over as she helped Snape up. His eyes made her stop. They were dark pools of liquid obsidian. They told of many horrible things, torture, killing, abuse, hate, pain. This was not some ordinary Death Eater. This wasn't a power hungry fiend or a coward. This was a lost man searching for something to believe in. If she had gotten to him before this, maybe she could have helped him, but Voldemort had grabbed hold of him, and gave him power to believe in. Power and greed, the false gods of the weak. She felt sorry for him. She couldn't kill him. Not while he still had a conscience she could bring to the light. "Bindus" she said, and ropes flew out of her hand and bound Snape's hands. She muttered a sort of incantation then said, "Follow me."  
  
Her face lighted as she smiled. Snape found he wasn't so scared now. "Get up." She said and he stood, her wand ever at his neck. He watched her closely. He was barely a threat to her now, his hands were tied to tightly to slip out of, and his wand was still in her house. She was rather pretty, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He had seen something when she had helped him up. Their eyes had met for a moment and he had seen pain there. Pain that had led to hate. He wished he knew why. She reached a pair of broomsticks and muttered a sort of incantation over them. "No matter what you do," She spoke with out turning to face him, "I will always control your broom. It's the same basic principal with your legs. I control them, so you can't run away." Snape mounted one and Jessica, the other.  
  
One broom ride later, Jessica and Snape were at the "holding dock" for captured Death Eaters. Not Azkaban but a highly magical facility. Snape was finding he sort of liked Jessica. She was smart and pretty, but she had fire he had never seen before. She hated dark wizards because of something personal, not like the cowards he had killed before. Jessica, for her part, was trying to find out more about Snape. She had seen his photo under wanted Death Eaters, but something about him.. She knew that there was a regular person under there somewhere and she had to find it. She wasn't only a Dark Wizard hunter, she was a caring individual, and when she could keep someone out of Azkaban, she would. Her parents would have wanted her to try and make these men and women see the wrong of their actions. Her parents loved everything about wizards and witches. Her mother had believed in magic until the day she died. Her fists unconsciously clenched themselves. Snape noticed. " Why do you hate dark wizards so much?" he asked suddenly. Jessica was jarred. The question was sudden and unanticipated. She decided to tell him the truth. " My parents were killed a while back. Killed, because they were muggles." Her face twisted into a frown. "It's not like people can choose what they are born, ya know? Like we can sit down and say, well I really like these people. We are just put here. God chooses we don't. Snape sniggered. "You believe in God huh? So why does this 'God' of yours allow these things to happen?" Snape had always believed that God was a figment of human imagination. Jessica got a complacent look on her face she looked happy and relaxed. "Humans are given free will to do what they please. Voldemort made a choice. No one made him." She was fingering a small silver cross around her neck. It hadn't been very apparent she was wearing it. Snape looked at her amazed. She loved the words she was speaking. Did people really believe in something that much? He suddenly felt something, like a shaft of light through murky water as something began to dawn in him. He felt sorry. He realized that what he had done was horrible. He made himself sick. He was a disgrace. Why was he still alive? He did something he hadn't done since he was little; Snape broke down and sobbed. He fell on the ground in a heap. He shook with tears. The light shafts kept shooting down the water. The fact he knew he was sorry helped ease the burning guild in his heart. He suddenly felt love for Jessica, the woman who could do this, the woman who could heal a heart broken by years of abuse and hate. He was, for once, happy. Jessica knelt down beside him and stroked his back. She started to comfort him as a child. "Hush." she whispered. "You're sorry. At least you're sorry." She comforted him for several more minutes before she stood up. "Come with me" she said, and she led him back to the broomstick. As they were flying, Snape realized that for the first time all night, her wand was not at his throat.  
  
As they flew, Jessica felt triumphant. She had found the human under Snape's outer demon-like form. She could see her mother's face smiling and telling her that she had done the right thing. Jessica loved her parents almost more than anything. They were her whole world. She felt lucky to have people who loved her. She was adopted at age 6, so she had experience with unwanted, unloved children. Ever since she was little she had wanted to get married and have kids. As these random thoughts, fragments of memories, and dreams of the past crossed Jessica's mind as she rode; the man next to her was paying attention to one thing only.  
  
"Professor! Professor!" Jessica knocked at the door of the giant castle, which Snape recognized as his Alma Mater, Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore, who looked at Jessica then looked sternly at Snape who felt embarrassed, finally opened the door, and led them inside. They followed him up several flights of stairs to his office, completely silent. He sat them down on two chairs next to his desk and sat down across from them. "What do you need Jessica?" He asked. She smiled. "Professor, tonight Severus here tried to kill me. When I had escorted him to the prison he broke down and wept because he saw the wrong of his actions. I brought him here thinking that you might have something for him to do to repent for his actions." She looked at Snape who said, "Professor, I don't deserve it. I am a horrible human being, not fit for earth." He looked down and Dumbledore smiled. "You are sorry, aren't you? Well I do have a job that you can do. You must be willing to face death, and torture at the hands of your former master." "I'll do anything!" Snape said eagerly. "I don't care if it's risky!" Jessica's heart felt light as she saw the eager, almost childlike expression on his face. He was so much like her dad. "I need you to spy on Voldemort and report his actions to me. This means that you need to go back to the Death Eaters, you understand." Snape nodded. Dumbledore stood up and shook his hand. "Welcome to our side Severus." Jessica could have hugged Snape and Dumbledore at that one moment. Her heart was virtually weightless as they left out the front doors. Jessica became slowly more aware of something. Snape was almost giddy. He flung his arm around her shoulder and began to sing. She giggled at his practically drunken happiness. He stopped and looked at her. "Thank you" he said and took both her hands in his. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart." He hugged her and a tear escaped from Jessica's eye as she hugged him back. She was in love with Severus Snape.  
  
+++  
  
2 years later. " I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Snape leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Jessica's mouth. She smiled at him and took his hand as they walked back down the aisle, relatives and friends clapping. As they danced their first dance together at the reception Snape couldn't stop staring at Jessica. She was everything he wanted. He loved her more than anything and he knew she loved him too. For Jessica, Snape looked changed from when she first met him, that fateful night. His face was less greasy and his hair was cleaned and he kept it combed. He had become so much happier after he took Dumbledore's job. It had been wonderful every time she saw him. She thought he was the only thing in her world. "I love you," she whispered. And she meant it.  
  
+++  
  
1 year later:  
  
"Jessica!" Snape called as he rushed into the house they had lived in for 6 months. "Hmm?" Jessica asked, semi-absorbed in a document from the office. He spun around her swivel chair. She was now facing him, reading glasses askew, and confused. "I got it. I got the job." Jessica's face dawned with comprehension. "The-the potions master? Really?" He nodded. Jessica squealed, "Oh my gosh! You've wanted that job forever!" "I can do my other jobs on the side, I won't have to give that up!" "I'm so happy for you!" Jessica said. She put on a joking frown and said, "Don't turn into one of those mean teachers who hate their students, hear me?" She laughed and gave Snape a huge hug and a kiss before she had to get back to work. Snape watched her for a few minutes after she turned around, in awe of this amazing person, who could be happier for someone than she had ever been for herself. He smiled faintly and fingered his wedding ring as he just watched Jessica read and take notes.  
  
+++  
  
  
  
4 years later.  
  
"SEVERUS!" Jessica screamed. Rookwood had her by the hair and he was dragging her along the floor. Her face was streaked with tears; her face was twisted with pain. "DON'T WORRY!" Snape yelled back. "I'll get you! I swear!" another Death Eater had him. He couldn't stand to see Jessica in pain like this. He couldn't let her get hurt. Rookwood grinned evilly. "So. Thought you could escape the Dark Lord, Snape? Well now I'll kill your wife, maybe then you will feel the true wrath of lord Voldemort!" Snape saw Jessica's face blanch as she heard him; she was fingering her cross again. "Please!" Snape begged him, "Kill me, torture me, just don't TOUCH Jessica! I'll do anything." "I would kill you Snape, really. But watching your wife murdered and living with that memory will be so much more painful." He grinned again. Snape couldn't let it happen. He wouldn't. Rookwood pointed his wand at Jessica. "NO!" Snape screamed. "Crucio" Jessica went into convulsions. She was twitching and screaming. Her scream was filling his ears; he was screaming too; then it stopped. Jessica wasn't twitching or screaming. She wasn't crying. She just lay there on the floor. Unmoving. Rookwood pulled her up by the hair. "Say good bye Mrs. Snape" Rookwood said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Jessica's eyes met Snape's and he began to silently cry, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Rookwood had his want at her heart. "I love you." She whispered. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" "NO!!!" Jessica was gone. +++  
  
Snape woke up, drenched in sweat. The nightmares had come back. 14 years he had lived with them. Long, endless years of seeing her face, her smiles, hearing her scream. He felt sick. He walked over to the bathroom and retched into the toilet. He didn't feel much better. He picked up a picture frame on his bedside table and kissed it. "I love you." E whispered to Jessica's smiling face. "Now, and forevermore." Tomorrow was their anniversary, February 21. He would go about his business as usual. Teaching and trying to keep himself sane one more day. The only reason he kept his job was because Jessica would have wanted him to. Her could hardly stand seeing children. Jessica had always wanted children. Lots of them. She had never gotten her wish. Snape sighed and set down the picture. He rolled over and tried to get to sleep, his silent tears falling on a chain containing two wedding rings and a small silver cross.  
  
  
  
THE END 


End file.
